Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
He must’ve realized that at some point because Carrick chuckled as I gave Lorne his bottle. As our boy sucked and sighed, Carrick looked down at him and couldn’t seem to decide if he wanted to laugh or shake his head. “He’s so stubborn.”
Oh yes.
“About?” It could honestly be about anything, so I wasn’t going to guess…especially since Carrick seemed to have a good idea about what the tenacious cutie wanted.
“The two of us are supposed to talk and make sure we’re getting to know each other since he didn’t make us have an alone date.” Carrick’s side eye being aimed in my direction said he wasn’t sure about something. “Evidently, he didn’t think we’d do a good job without supervision.”
I would’ve loved to have said Lorne was wrong…but…
“We did just fine on our own to begin with.” Mostly. Kind of? “Besides, we’re all mates, so we don’t need to worry about that.”
Maybe?
Yes, that’d been what I’d meant all along.
Carrick shrugged as Lorne started sucking more slowly. “If I’d have just asked you out in high school, our mate wouldn’t be worried about leaving us alone.”
If he’d…
“Did you think about that?” I couldn’t help remembering a younger Carrick, still just as magey and prickly. “You didn’t seem ready to deal with that kind of stuff back then.”
Neither of us probably had.
He chuckled, not getting offended. “Do you remember that couple who mated when we were juniors? They were in their senior year? They were the only couple who actually bonded that year and it was a fucking mess.”
Ugh.
“Everyone’s parents went nuts.” They’d all somehow forgotten that their kids would find partners one day, and for about six months, nearly every parent in town had lost their mind. “It was like they thought forbidding anyone from dating would keep them from mating earlier than their parents wanted.”
That was not how mates worked and everyone should’ve realized that.
“Logic has never been this town’s strong suit.” Carrick’s dry response made me smile and that got a flash of a grin from our dramatic mate. “I’d actually figured out how I was going to ask you out and even worked out a plan so my family wouldn’t notice.”
“Really?” So it hadn’t been my imagination?
“Yeah.” Looking adorably sheepish until he chased the emotion off his face, he shrugged. “I’d arranged to borrow a friend’s car and had even picked out a movie I thought you’d like. I don’t even remember what it was now, but then that couple announced they were mates and my parents put dating on lockdown.”
Rolling his eyes, Carrick leaned closer without seeming to realize it. “They even stopped pushing me to ask out their friends’ daughters.”
That made me laugh. “Daughters?”
Had he been in the closet to his family?
“They decided that it didn’t matter who I was attracted to, I needed to mate with a girl from a good family so I could have a proper family.” Carrick’s opinion on that was obvious from his tone. “Let’s just say they’re not that bright.”
Yeah.
“Did they not remember the first rule of mating? If you aren’t attracted to them, then you won’t get mated to them.” Mates weren’t just about having children and there’d never been a record of anyone being mated to a sex they weren’t attracted to.
Never.
It was one of the first things documented about mates after our ancestors had realized they were stuck on Earth and needed to write at least some of what they knew down. I had a vague memory of one of my great-grandparents saying it was because we were more accepting of different types of relationships, and at that point, humans had still been figuring out that love came in all kinds of different packages.
“Somehow they thought they were special enough to be immune to that rule.” Still looking like he thought they were idiots, Carrick let out a breath and rested his head on my shoulder as he looked down at our now sleeping mate.
“Do you wish things had been different?” Watching Lorne sink deeper as his lips barely twitched around the nipple of the bottle, I wasn’t sure I’d have changed anything.
“No.” Carrick was honest as he reached over and stroked a finger down Lorne’s cheek as I set the bottle on the nightstand. “Without the mate bond, I’d have been too much of a dick to you. I had to grow up a bit before I could be this understanding.”
The best part about that whole statement was that I wasn’t sure if he was kidding.
Taking him at his word, I turned my head just enough to kiss his forehead. “Yeah, I think we needed the confidence the mate bond gave before we could make things work.”
“And we needed Lorne to be ready.” Carrick chuckled. “We’re both just a bit too…a bit too much to have worked without him.”